2014 Verizon IndyCar Series Preview

With only hours away and after a long offseason, the 2014 Verizon IndyCar Series will be taking the green flag on the Streets of St. Petersburg!

The 22-car field, which will be in the normal range of the season (except the Indy 500) features a diversity of different drivers including many veterans and 4 rookies.  There's also been many team and driver changes during the offseason.  After a 7 year NASCAR career, former Indy 500 and Monaco GP winner Juan Pablo Montoya returns to IndyCars, driving the 2 car for Roger Penske and fellow teammates, 3-time Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves and Will Power.  With Dario Franchitti now retired after that brutal wreck in Houston, 2013 Indy 500 winner Tony Kanaan, who had struggled in recent years, hopes to return to championship form, joining Target Chip Ganassi Racing.  Also moving to Ganassi is former driver and ALMS P2 class champion Ryan Briscoe.  Briscoe & Kanaan join a solid lineup which features defending series champion Scott Dixon & most-improved driver of last year Charlie Kimball.  Sebastian Saavedra & series title contender Sebastien Bourdais become part of KV Racing.  Andretti Autosport has been a key figure in recent years with 2012 series champion Ryan Hunter-Reay, Marco Andretti and 3-time race winner James Hinchcliffe, and now are joined by 2nd place Indy 500 finisher Carlos Munoz and will look to compete with Penske & Ganassi for the championship.  Oh, speaking of Andretti, NASCAR star Kurt Busch has signed with the team to drive in the Indy 500, making him the first driver since 2006 (Robby Gordon) to attempt the double (Indy & Charlotte).  Schmidt-Peterson Racing retained Simon Pagenaud and hired rookie Mikhail Aleshin (first Russian to compete in series) and could play dark horse.  Don't forget about A.J. Foyt Racing and Takuma Sato, who had an impressive first half of last season, winning at Long Beach, led the points and already won the pole for today's race.  Ed Carpenter & Mike Conway will split driving duties in the 20 car (Ed Carpenter Racing), while Josef Newgarden looks to impress for team owner Sarah Fisher.  Jack Hawksworth is another rookie looking for attention, driving for Bryan Herta Autosport in the 98 car.  Like I said, this is a strong class in what is expected to be a short, fast season.

Now, why I said short.  This season will feature 19 races, including 3 double-header weekends, all taking place from now (March 30) to Labor Day Weekend in what is being described a "transition year" getting ready for more changes in 2015.  The series starts today at St. Pete, then going to the Streets of Long Beach in 2 weeks, followed by the GP of Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park.  Then May comes around and we'll see IndyCar's first race at the newly configured road-course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on May 10, which will feature a standing start and a whole new track, different from F1 years.  Then it's the Indy 500 on May 25th and then the first double-header weekend at Belle Isle in Detroit a week later.  My 2nd favorite race of the year (1st being Indy) then takes place the following Saturday night at Texas Motor Speedway for the Firestone 600k (20 more laps added which brings to nearly 400 miles of racing).  After a 3 week break, the series goes back to street racing at Reliant Park in Houston for another double-header followed by more oval racing at Pocono (500 mile race) and Iowa (nighttime racing) and the last double-header race of the season at Toronto, all back to back in a 4-week span.  On August 3rd, the series goes to Mid-Ohio then an off week, and lastly a 3-week sprint for the title at the Milwaukee Mile, Sonoma and lastly dueling it out at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, CA for a 500-mile race to see who wins the championship.

Lastly, points are going to be big this year, especially at the long distance events (500 mile races).  Manufacturers will receive points as well if cars' V6 engines reach 2500 miles and the 10-spot grid penalties have been removed, replaced by docking of driver points instead, so points are crucial this year in the sport. 

As always, I'll do an Indy 500 preview, but as far as the championship goes, it starts today.  For the St. Pete race I'm going with Kanaan, who I'm also pulling for to win the 2014 Series Championship.